Labour Day: Lesson Plan

Suitable for Grades 7+

Look at the jobs on the left that exist now. It is predicted that ​when students enter the workforce, they may be doing many ​different jobs that don't exist yet... what might these jobs be? ​Think of current global trends and challenges to assist ​brainstorming possibilities, e.g. climate change, cloud computing, ​global conflicts, food security, waste, etc.

Labour Day in China, or International Workers’ Day, is a public holiday that celebrates workers’ ​contributions to the country. Chinese Labour Day began in 1919, but wasn’t declared a national ​holiday until 1949, when China officially became a communist country. It is a national festival which ​is usually a few days long. During the “cultural revolution” May Day in China was considered almost ​the most important holiday for China. Today, Labour Day is a holiday meant for enjoying time off ​with friends and family.

Labour Day, a day of celebration of workers’ rights, is celebrated in over 80 countries globally and ​is also known as May Day in some countries.

Review the Labour Day: Fun Facts About Labor Day video. Discuss with the class the ​significance of Labour Day in China and how Labour Day is celebrated in Australia / ​New Zealand / UK / USA and how they might look similar or different than how it is ​celebrated in China. Students may complete a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast.

Review jobs in China: Highest Paying ​Careers in China and discuss which jobs ​might look like in the future as well as what ​skills might be needed for these future ​occupations.

Ask students what they think the future of jobs ​is and how they think the job market might ​change? Some key ideas to prompt them:

• AI
• Human skills
• Green economy
• Digital technologies
• Gig economy
  

Review How to Say What Is Your Job in Chinese ​and ask them to recall some of the new ​vocabulary they learned as well as any familiar ​phrases they heard.

Ask students to look up their ideal future jobs ​in Chinese and teach others how to say it.

The rights of workers have not always been so good. ​Historically, workers in factories globally often worked 10-12 ​hours a day, in dangerous, often life threatening, conditions. ​Child labour was common and many children worked in terrible ​conditions.

Over time, people advocated for change so that work was a fair ​and safe place for all workers. Child labour became illegal in ​many countries.

Discuss:

• How do you think they got the conditions changed? (strikes, ​petitioning, etc)
• Who should have more rights at work, bosses or workers?
• What are some rights of workers?

• Ask students to get into small groups and ​discuss the jobs they would like to do or ​their family members' occupations.
• Using the vocabulary they learned in the ​previous videos, create their own skits ​where they ask their partners about their ​chosen jobs or those of their family ​members.
  

The origins of Labour Day lie in the acknowledgement of the ​rights for workers. These change country to country, but ​during the Industrial Revolution, were usually harsh, with long ​days (10-12 hours), unsafe working conditions leading to ​deadly accidents and monotonous tasks. Many workers ​fought for better conditions through government lobbying or ​strikes e.g. 8 hour workday, sick pay, etc.

• Debate the pros and cons of the 'gig economy', which is ​becoming more popular. It provides flexible working ​arrangements, but often without the conditions that come ​with regular work e.g. sick pay.
  

• Share your students’ fantastic work with your school community to show them the great ​intercultural learning taking place in your classroom!

• Prepare an assembly item to share about this holiday.
  

• Create a Learning Wall about the holiday.
  

• Display students’ work on the festival around the school or on the Learning Wall.
  

• Tag @MegGlobalEd on school posts so we can celebrate your ​students’ wonderful work. Find Meg on Facebook, LinkedIn, X/Twitter, ​and Instagram